Winding and setting device for watches



June 26, 1962 F, MEYER 3,040,513

WINDING AND SETTING DEVICE FOR WATCHES Filed March 8, 1960 INVENTOR F 'edrich Heger ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,040,513 WENDIN G AND SEITlNG DEVICE FOR WATCHES Friedrich Meyer, Grenchen, Switzerland, assignor to Ehauches S.A., Neuchatel, Switzerland Filed Mar. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 13,463 Claims priority, application Switzerland Mar. 26, 1959 Claims. (Cl. 58-68) This invention relates to winding and setting device for watches and more particularly, though not exclusively, to winding and setting device for watches whose winding arbor is perpendicular to the plane of the dial and to winding and setting device with a setting pinion which is coaxial to the winding arbor.

In prior winding and setting devices for watches whose winding arbor is perpendicular to the dial plane, i.e., for Watches in which the Winding arbor is operated from the side of the back of the watchcase the setting pinion driving the setting wheels is rigidly fixed to the winding arbor. On axial adjustment of the winding arbor, the setting pinion is axially displaced by the winding arbor in order to be brought in and out of engagement with the setting wheels. This rigid mounting of the setting pinion on the winding arbor requires a very complicated and troublesome mounting and dism'ounting of the winding and setting device in and from the watch movement. For disassembling these prior devices the winding crown must at first be removed from the winding arbor. Afterwards several screws must be loosened for removing the bridge. Another screw must be loosened to remove the catch spring of the winding arbor. A fourth operation is necessary to dismount the dial and in a fifth operation the winding arbor together with the setting pinion must be withdrawn towards the side of the dial. Furthermore, the prior mechanisms for winding arbors which are perpendicular to the dial plane have no disengageable coupling so that, on turning the winding arbor the wrong way, danger occurs of damaging the winding means. Moreover, in these prior devices there is no coupling means facilitating winding and handsetting operation.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved winding and setting device.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved winding and setting device which is simple in construction, and easy and economical to manufacture, assemble and disassemble.

Another object of my invention is to provide a winding and setting device in which the setting pinion, coaxial to the winding arbor, is separable from the Winding arbor by axial displacement of said arbor.

Another object of my invention is to provide a winding and setting device inwhich all the parts surrounding the winding arbor, with the exception of the axially secured setting pinion, can be withdrawn together with the winding arbor as an entire set from the watch movement towards the side away from the setting pinion after manipulation of a locking member.

Other objects, features and advantages of my invention will be apparent as the following description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drrawings illustrating by way of example one embodiment of the invention, and wherein FIG. 1 is a section through the axis of the winding arbor without the winding crown,

FIG. 2 is a top view of the bridge and the locking member,

FIG. 3 is a top view of the disc-shaped catch spring for the winding arbor, and

FIG. 4 is a top View of the setting pinion with the winding arbor in cross section.

The winding arbor 2 has a thread 3 for fixing the winding crown (not shown) and a square portion 1 going through a corresponding square hole of a toothed clutch member 4 to allow this member to move axially and to be taken along in circumferential direction by the winding arbor 2. The member 4 of the tooth clutch is under the constraint of a spring 6 supported on the winding pinion 5, the spring 6 pressing the clutch member 4 onto circle segments 7 provided on the arbor 2 between its square portion 1 and its cylindrical portion. The teeth of the clutch member 4 cooperate with teeth 8 of the other member 9 of the disengageable clutch. The clutclt portion 9 is rigidly driven into a borehole 10 of an extension .11 of the hub of the winding pinion 5- which, in a well-known manner (not shown), is in drive connection with the ratchet wheel (not shown) of the barrel. The teeth 8 of the clutch member 9 are of a larger radial width than the teeth of the clutch member 4 for the reason that the clutch member 9 is driven into an enlargement of the borehole 10. However, the larger radial width of the teeth 8 is of no influence on the operation of the clutch. Between the hub extension 11 of the winding pinion 5 and a shoulder 12 projecting into a bore hole 13 of the pillar plate 14 lies the catch spring 15 in the shape of a round disc (FIG. 3), which in the winding position of the winding arbor 2, engages an annular groove 16 of the arbor 2 and, in the setting position of the winding arbor 2, engages an annular groove 17 of the arbor 2. Referring to FIG. 3, the catch spring 15 has slits 19 and an oval opening 18 whose diameter is larger in the direction of the slits 19 than perpendicularly thereto for the reason that, on pulling the conical collar 20 of the wind-* ing arbor 2 through the spring 15 the latter can only yield in a direction perpendicular to the slits 19'. On the side of the pillar plate 14 which is away from the bridge 21 the winding arbor 2 is mounted for axial movement and rotation by means of a stud 23 engaging with sliding fit an axial borehole 22 of the winding arbor 2. The stud 23 is made in one piece with a plate 24 inserted into a recess 25 of the pillar plate 14 and fixed to the latter by means of a screw 26. The setting pinion 27 is secured in axial direction by the shoulder 12 and the plate 24. The shoulder 12 serves as a pivot bearing for the pinion 27 which is in a well-known drive connection with the setting Wheels (not shown). The pinion 27 has a central recess 28 receiving two drivers 29 of the winding arbor 2 when the latter is in winding position. Cams 3 1 project into a bore hole 30 of the setting pinion 27, separated from each other by rather large gaps 32' receiving the drivers 29 when the winding arbor 2 is in setting position in order to drive the pinion 27 by striking against the cams 31 on the arbor 2 being rotated.

A recess 33 of the bridge 21 receives a locking member in the shape of a stirrup 34 engaging a groove 35 of the hub 11 of the winding pinion 5. Bars 36 of the stirrup 34 are insertable through widenings 37 of the recess 33 of the bridge 21. After having turned the stirrup 34 to the position shown in FIG. 2, the ears 36 engage grooves 38 of the bridge 21. Therefore, the ears 36 of the stirrup 34 and the grooves 38 of the bridge 21 form together a bayonet catch.

On the stirrup 34 being in the position shown in the drawings, the entire winding and setting mechanism lying before the setting pinion 27 is completely mounted on the watch movement. The stirrup 34 holds in position the winding pinion 5 and thereby also the clutch member 9. while the spring 15 is held fast between the hub 11 and a spacer sleeve 39 supported on the shoulder 12. Moreover, the device is in the winding position and the main spring (not shown) can be wound up. On winding operation the winding pinion 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 2, i.e. it has the tendency aoao, a is of pressing the ears 36 of the stirrup 34 into the grooves 38. Therefore, also without the provision of special means for preventing rotation of the stirrup 34, undesired movement of the ears 36 into reach of the widenings 37 is safely avoided. On rotating the winding crown in the opposite direction, when the teeth of the clutch member 4 jump along the teeth of the clutch member 9 while compressing the spring 6 and when the winding pinion is held fast by the resistance of the barrel ratchet wheel (not shown), no movement caused by friction eifect is transmitted to the stirrup 34 so that also during this return rotation no danger of loosening the Stirrup 34 exists. In the illustrated winding position of the mechanismthe drivers 29 of the winding arbor 2 lie within reach of the recess 28 of the setting pinion 27. Therefore, the drive connection between the arbor 2 and the setting wheels (not shown) is interrupted. If, by means of the crown, the winding arbor 2 is pulled outwardly into the setting position, the drivers 29 enter the gaps 32 of the setting pinion 27 so that on rotation of the arbor 2, these drivers drive the pinion 27 by means of the earns 31. Since the gaps 32 are greater in length and number than the drivers 29 it very seldom happens that on axial adjustment of the winding arbor 2 towards the outside the drivers strike against the cams 31 so that a small rotation must be given to the arbor 2. On transition from the winding position to the setting position, i.e., on pulling the shaft 2 outwardly, the spring is spread by the collar of the arbor 2 whereupon it snaps into the annular groove 17. The segments 7 of the outwardly moving arbor 2 take the clutch member 4 along with them against the constraint of the spring 6 and bring it out of engagement with the clutch member 9 so that the winding mechanism is interrupted.

If the parts of the winding and setting device which lie before the setting wheels are to be diassembled, merely the stirrup 34 must be turned by some degrees in the clockwise direction (FIG. 2) until its ears 36 arrive within reach of the widenings 37. After that, the crown is taken hold of and the entire set to be disassembled can be pulled out in that the drivers 29 going through the gaps 32 strike against the spacer sleeve 39 so that the spring 15 and the arbor 2 with the parts 4, 5, 6, 9, 1 1 and 34 are lifted, while the arbor 2 is drawn off the stud 23 and the axially secured setting pinion 27 remains in its position. For assembling the device the opposite sequence of operations is followed. The above-described disassembling and assembling is possible for the reason that, in addition to the separableness of the arbor 2 from the pinion 27, none of the parts lying beneath the borehole 40 of the bridge 21 has a dimension which is larger than the diameter of the boreholes 13 and 49, because, different to prior devices, also the spring 15 is no longer fixed at a place lying somewhere by the side of the borehole receiving the winding arbor 2. While I have described and illustrated the invention with reference to a specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood that other embodiments will be resorted to without departing from the invention. As an example, my winding and setting device may also be used in watches in which the winding arbor is parallel to the dial plane while modifying the locking member accordingly. Therefore, the form of the invention set out above should be considered as illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A winding and setting device for watches of the type including a removable winding and setting assembly, the device comprising a bridge having a borehole therein, means forming a reduced portion of the borehole thereby forming a shoulder, a setting pinion on one side of the shoulder and in axial alignment with the borehole, means retaining the setting pinion in position, said removable winding and setting assembly releasably retained in the bridge borehole and including a winding arbor having a squared upper portion a cylindrical portion below the squared portion and first and second annular grooves below the squared portion, driver members on the arbor positioned below the grooves, a first toothed clutch member carried by the arbor for rotation therewith on its squared portion, a second toothed clutch member rotatably carried by the arbor on its cylindrical portion, a winding pinion about the arbor, a hub for the winding pinion extending therefrom and journalled in the borehole, means fixedly engaging the second clutch member with the winding pinion hub, a spring about the arbor and abutting at one end against the winding pinion and at its other end against the first clutch member, a catch spring engaged in one of the grooves of the arbor, a spacer member having a predetermined inner diameter, the catch spring abutting between the hub and the spacer member, the spacer member abutting against the shoulder, the driver members of the arbor in engagement with the setting pinion when the catch spring is in one of the grooves, and means releasably retaining the winding and setting assembly in the borehole, the driver members of the arbor having a greater diameter than said predetermined diameter of the spacer member so that the arbor, clutch members, winding pinion, spring, catch spring and spacer member are removable together through the borehole as an assembly.

2. A device acording to claim 1 in which the bridge is recessed to receive the setting pinion, and the means retaining the setting pinion in position is a plate secured to the bridge.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which the arbor has a-recess in its lower end and the means retaining the setting pinion includes a plate, a pin projecting from the plate, the pin extending through the setting pinion into the recess in the arbor.

4. A device according to claim 1 in which the second clutch member has a larger diameter than the first clutch member, and the means fixedly engaging the second clutch member with the winding pinion hub is a press fit engagement of the second clutch member with the winding pinion hub.

5. A device according to claim 1 in which the setting pinion has a hub, the outer surface of the setting pinion hub journalled on the reduced portion of the borehole, cam members extending inwardly from the setting pinion hub, the diameter of the inner surface of the hub being greater than the diameter of the driver members of the winding arbor so that the driver members may be longitudinally moved past the cams in the winding position of the arbor, the driver members being engageable with the cams in the setting position of the arbor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,448,610 Mandolf Sept. 7, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 69,988 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1916 491,675 Germany Feb. 17, 1930 766,921 France Apr. 23, 19 4 239,879 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1946 484,359 Italy Sept. 8, 1953 309,232 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1955 330,190 Switzerland July 15, 1958 

